Embracing Change - The Power of Business Transformation

In this episode Anne Ganguzza and Lau Lapides discuss health and business transformations, sharing personal journeys and business changes. Together, The BOSSES dissect the essence of finding a compelling 'why' to fuel profound changes and prevent old habits from creeping back. They navigate the intricate process of embracing a new identity after such shifts. The conversation takes you through the peaks and valleys of goal setting and the importance of evolving these goals to sidestep complacency and promote growth. Whether you're toasting to recent victories or charting the course for your next big achievement in voiceover or other business ventures, this talk is peppered with inspiration. Tune in and let the shared experiences and guiding wisdom propel you toward seizing new opportunities and savoring the ascent to success and fulfillment.

00:01 - Intro (Announcement) It's time to take your business to the next level, the boss level. These are the premier business owner strategies and successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a boss, a V-O boss. Now let's welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza. 

00:19 - Anne (Host) Hey everyone, welcome to the V-O Boss podcast and the Boss Superpower series. I'm your host, Anne Ganguzza. I'm here with the lovely Lau Lapides, my very special boss co-host. How are you, annie? I'm doing amazing, Lau, I'm doing amazing. How about yourself? 

00:39 Wonderful, amazing as well Good, you know Lau. I've been thinking about this a lot. I mean, for me, I have gone through a little bit of a transformation over the past few months Actually, I would say year and a half. Physical transformation, because I've been trying to get healthy. I lost a little bit of weight and I was thinking about in terms of wanting to transform my habits or what I do on a day-to-day basis and transform and evolve into something that can really move me forward and progress. 

01:12 I thought that we can also apply the same kind of transformation thoughts, mentality, rules maybe not rules, but strategies for our own businesses. I thought it would be a good time to talk about transformation and transforming our VO businesses, because I think it's something that it's the beginning of the year. I think it's always a good time to think about. Everybody talks about New Year's resolutions, but I don't want to talk about resolutions. I want to talk about transformation and how you can assess if your business needs to transform, if you need to evolve, and what it would look like for you to set a course or a strategy on how to transform your business, because I think our markets have shifted Lau and we need to really evaluate that and transform our businesses to evolve along with them. 

02:02 - Lau (Guest) Well, that's amazing stuff. I love talking about transformation and I can't help but bringing up the fabulous frog, because the frog in Eastern culture is a representative as symbolic of transformation when you think about leaping forward. And, by the way fun fact, I'm sure everyone kind of knows this, but this is leap year, which means in the leap year calendar, you have an extra day in this year for your leaping, for your transformation, for the new calendar and thinking about wow, what am I going to do in that extra 24 hours? Right, but I mean what you have done in terms of your physical, your mental, your spiritual transformation is nothing short of like miraculous, amazing. 

02:50 - Anne (Host) Now here's the question. 

02:52 - Lau (Guest) Here's the question what do we do once we are transformed into something else? There's a great question. Right and how do we acclimate to that? How do we that's a wonderful question Assimilate with that, how do we, in essence, blend into the form that we want to be and, all of a sudden, are becoming Sure Now we're a new entity, right? 

03:15 - Anne (Host) Yeah Well, first of all, I want to say thank you for that. I really appreciate that. One thing I will say, and I want to stress this to you bosses out there, that transformation doesn't happen overnight. Very rarely does it happen overnight. 

03:28 And I will say that my transformation, my physical transformation to better health, literally was a journey, and I really had to make sure that I gave myself grace and patience with myself in order to be able to transform. And I know that, gosh, we've been in business for so long and we've been transforming our businesses for years now, and I do know that it's not a simple nor a quick process. And so I want you bosses out there to give yourself some grace and to kind of be prepared and enjoy the journey as you evolve and transform and go through it. And, yes, law, one of the biggest questions is once you have transformed, how is it that you will maintain consistency or continue to progress or continue to keep moving forward, if you want to, with that transformation? And I will tell you that for me physically because this is multiple times I've kind of been there and gotten healthy and lost weight, and so I think this time it means a little bit more to me, I think there's always that what is your why, right, what is your why? Why do you want to transform? Well, I want to be a successful voiceover artist. Well, I want to be healthy. Well, I want whatever it is that you are looking to transform. 

04:44 Your why is so very important and that why can evolve over time as you are transforming, right, that why can change and I think, depending on the importance of that why to you, right, that really becomes a catalyst for being able to sustain that transformation and to make sure that it's something that is moving forward. You're not going to let necessarily, let's say, slip back into bad habits or slip back into the things that will not move yourself forward. And I am the first to tell you that I am terrified, terrified of slipping back into old habits, right, I do not want. Health wise, I do not want to slip back. Business wise, I do not want my business to go backwards, and so that, right, there is a great motivator for me to figure out ways and strategies to actually maintain and or move forward from that. So I think really understanding your purpose and your why for the transformation is key. 

05:45 - Lau (Guest) So here's the question, the million dollar question what is or what was your why? 

05:53 - Anne (Host) Oh. 

05:53 - Lau (Guest) Annie, for doing what you did in this major transformation, powerful stage that you've been in and still are in in your process and your progress. What was this last? Why? 

06:08 - Anne (Host) for you. Well, that's really a good question. So if we're talking about my health transformation, I will say that it was an eye-opener from my doctor who said Anne, you are at stroke level high blood pressure and I want you to get some blood work done. And that's just the simple facts of it which just literally scared me straight into getting blood work done. And that blood work was not good. 

06:33 And as a result of that blood work, I was then diagnosed with some other health issues which then I was prescribed lots and lots of medication for. It scared me and I thought, after having been through and people know my cancer journey, I thought I'm invincible, right? Well, no, no, I had kind of slipped into some habits. There was lots of reasons. I don't want to say that all of them were excuses for poor habits. I mean, some of them were just consequences of medication, but ultimately that was a priority that my why all of a sudden became like, well, goodness, like I beat cancer. I certainly don't want this new revelation of these new health issues to take anything away from me that. 

07:13 I worked so hard to build in the first place, and so that kind of just woke me up right, and I think we all kind of tend to get into those things. I know there's many, many people that are either trying to get healthy on a weight loss journey that will slip back. They lost weight, they slip back, and then they're like oh, and they beat themselves up. But I think that things evolve, as we were talking about right, your why evolves, your reasons evolve, and I think you always need to keep an eye on that and you need to really, if you want to make that change and that transformation, you have to really keep your eye on that. Why write it down and really understand what now is the strategy, what are the consequences if you're not going to be making those changes? 

07:57 - Lau (Guest) And really understand that if you are serious about transformation in your business, in your life, in your inner world, your inner being one has to have discipline. You talk about habits and rituals and routines and patterns, and so do I and the importance of that, the success of people that can stay with a successful discipline, a habit, and even if you fall off sometimes the frog does fall off the lily pad and gets wet and then has to come back- on. 

08:27 That's okay, but are you moving forward? Are you moving backwards and really keeping track of that, whether it's goal setting, whether it's just about your inspirations for the year, or whether it is something as grave as oh, this is very serious for my health. I almost have no choice. I have to move in that direction or I'm compelled to move in that direction. 

08:47 - Anne (Host) Absolutely. 

08:48 - Lau (Guest) Understanding like prioritizing. What transformations do I want to have? Will I prioritize those? Because you and I meet so many talent that they want to do 12,000 things. 

09:01 - Anne (Host) Oh, yeah, absolutely. 

09:03 - Lau (Guest) They want to transform everything in one day, all at once, and you and I know it's just not possible to do all at once. It really isn't. The day isn't long enough and our life isn't long enough. So, really understanding, like what is most important, where is that going to get me? What is my end game in that? Sure See, it's really. I think and I speak personally as well, because I'm a creative too, I'm an artist too. It's easy to fantasize, it's exciting to dream and get inspired, but then sometimes we fall off the cliff on the other end, because there is no real end game to some of those dreams. They just feel really good in the making. 

09:42 - Anne (Host) Or it feels good in the dreaming law, right. 

09:44 - Intro (Announcement) Yes, you know what I mean, and so, but when it? 

09:46 - Anne (Host) comes time to putting it into action. I think that's where most people they're really looking for. How do I get motivated? How? 

09:54 - Lau (Guest) do I Right and that really becomes that. 

09:56 - Anne (Host) Why that priority? It's almost like you're clawing your way sometimes to get that motivation, because you don't think that for 2 and 1 half years or three years, during that pandemic, I wasn't commiserating, saying oh my gosh, I'm not feeling good, or you know what I mean. I feel like I'm so busy but I don't have time to take care of myself or my health. And really you have to be able to somehow find that motivation to start the climb. And it is a climb and it's not more than likely. It's not an easy climb. The dreaming is the easy part. 

10:29 And I like how you said inspirations instead of resolutions, right, because resolutions, a lot of times people get dejected from the beginning because they make a resolution and after the first week of the new year they're like yes, I'm going to go to the gym and I'm going to work out and literally that's just been something. And it's interesting because now that I've gotten healthier, now I'm on that mad terrified like, oh my gosh, I've got to maintain it. So now I'm physically working out every day, right, and the only time I have to do it is early in the morning. So literally I am like at 7 AM, sometimes 6, 30 AM and I don't, I'm tired and I literally I get on that machine or I go to Pilates and I'm like I am so tired, I almost feel sick. You know what I mean? That's how tired I am, I can't. But I push myself through it and usually you get through that lactose, burning through that lactose, and then you'll start to feel better. 

11:18 But before you start getting better, boy, there's a lot of pain and it's hard. I don't want to do it. I don't want to do it. 

11:25 - Lau (Guest) But isn't that a great metaphor for exactly what we do in our industry is that we want to reach that zenith. We all want to reach the apex of whatever we're doing. 

11:34 - Anne (Host) The first thing I thought of we want that. Yes, we want every day. We want to get work for commercial work. 

11:39 - Lau (Guest) Yeah, exactly the first thing I thought of was a film I just saw about the Andes Mountains and I thought of a huge mountain like the Andes and how impossible it is to climb it. And we want to be right up on that little sliver, right up on that vista, that we can walk on the absolute top, and we say, I want to get there, that's my dream. But rather, what are the plateaus, what are the places that we have to get to in order to make it up there? And there are many stopping points, there are many resting points, there are many points where you're going to slide down, you're going to fall, you're going to roll over, you're going to stumble. And, really understanding, in order for me to get to that zenith, I have to think through and have almost a mapology of all the sticking points that could happen and how I'm going to deal with them when they happen, not if they happen, but when they happen because they will happen. 

12:32 - Anne (Host) What's also I was thinking about in terms of inspiration? Right, because I thought, oh, have I reached my goal? Have I reached the place where I want to be? Have I reached the apex? No, I have to keep moving that apex Now. Does it have to be upward? I like to think it's moving upward, but I'm going to say it's moving in a positive direction, so I'm not going to lose 100 more pounds. 

12:50 - Lau (Guest) Do you know what I mean? 

12:51 - Anne (Host) But no, what am I going to do? Well then, maybe I okay. So now my goal has shifted right. My transformation goal has shifted, especially, let's say, in our voice ever business right? Oh, I want to do national spots, or I want to be in animation and I want to be on Cartoon Network or whatever. Your goal is right so you can have that apex. But again, where are those places that are going to get you there? And then, let's say, you ultimately get to the apex and you get that national. You get that. What are you going to do? Are you going to sit there? I'm going to say complacent in that, of course, I'm not saying you shouldn't celebrate that but I also feel as though you need to be continually evolving and moving that goal to continue transformation or continue growth. 

13:35 I've always said this multiple times in the podcast, that the death of me is when I feel stagnant, when I am not changing anything, when I'm not doing anything. So in voiceover, maybe you can explore a new genre. You can work with a different coach. There are so many different things you can do. Take an improv class, right. Work up the relationship with your agent, right, like there's so many things that you can do. Yes, and what do? 

13:59 - Lau (Guest) you do with the prize, with the celebration once you have it, once you get it. I once had an acting professor in grad school who talked about that. He said you know, once I reached where I wanted to reach, I got incredibly depressed. I got severely, clinically depressed. Yeah, because I reached it. I said that what else is there? Right, right? And I said there's no place but down from here. Well, we had smart colleagues that said you're wrong, your perspective is wrong. Now you need to reach the next level of where you're headed next. And remember you're not just headed north, you can go east you can go, west you can go diagonal right you can pivot in different directions. 

14:38 The meter diver is going to go down south, so it's really about how you open up that framework for yourself. 

14:44 I like that I like that Of success, and when you do reach a success, take the time, celebrate it. Yes, do something with it to make it real for yourself, make it count, make it something that you can apply to life, because you're going to want to move on to something else and you don't want to forget about that. You don't want to imagine that that never happened. Have you ever felt that way? I've had that many times where I've achieved exactly what I wanted to, oh yeah, and then by next week I forgot. 

15:08 - Anne (Host) I did it. I forgot Exactly. You need to always celebrate that, and you're so right because I'm literally, I'm not quite at my goal right, but I'm pretty much at my goal right, and I'm like, oh gosh, now what, right, now what. And so, in reality, I needed to make a new goal. And so now I have a new goal. And now my new goal is well, okay, maybe health wise, I'm good. 

15:28 I got most of my medications are. Now, you know, I don't need to take them anymore. Now I just I need to build up some muscle. This is just physically right. I need to build up muscle. So I don't have any muscle. 

15:38 I got a lot of that weight had to go somewhere in my skin, said what, what, where did my skin go? It didn't disappear. So so I need to bulk up a little bit, and I love that, because I didn't feel depressed. I thought, oh God, I've done everything. And everybody says be proud and I am proud. 

15:54 But I also was like, oh God, well, what do I do now? And so therefore, I will say to you law, I'm so glad you said that, because everybody that knows me knows I have all the different divisions of my business right and I always say well, it's because I can't be stagnant and I don't want to be bored. And so I decided, well, let's open up another brand, right? So I've got another brand, and people are like I don't understand how you do it. And I'm like, well, literally, I am one person, I have so many hours in the day, right, and so, yeah, am I doing a lot? Sure, but I also hire a lot of people too that can help me, right, and they're helping me to get to my transformation and my goals, and that is the way that I can do that. 

16:32 - Lau (Guest) And so again keep setting goals, keep setting. 

16:35 - Anne (Host) And you're right, you can go east, you can go west, you can even go south, but I think you always need to continually grow. 

16:42 - Lau (Guest) That's right. And just remember with transformation comes change, and it sounds like well, obviously, but change is something that frightens us oftentimes because we like control and we like to know exactly who we are and what's coming next. So when you welcome transformation, you welcome change, and when you welcome change, you welcome the unknowing at times. So just keep that in your mindset. 

17:06 - Anne (Host) And I think also there's something to ask yourself too is to really be truthful with yourself. Are you fearful of not just failure, but are you fearful of success? What will happen when you get to that successful level and that, of course, you know part of the fear of the unknown right? What will happen now that you're successful with that? Success may come like a whole new series of maybe problems or issues or things that you'll need to think about or deal with that you have not ever experienced before, and that is scary, yeah very scary. 

17:39 - Lau (Guest) So as wonderful as it is and as much as we're going after it and chasing after it, we have to know that there's also a fear factor involved with transformation. And I say recognize the fear and do it anyway. 

17:51 - Anne (Host) Yeah, just lean into it. I think really don't run away from it. Lean into it and just know that it's scary, no matter what. 

17:59 - Lau (Guest) It's scary. 

18:00 - Anne (Host) It's scary for all of us, really, and you're not alone. You are not alone, and I think that one of the reasons why I love this podcast is that we can talk about topics like this, so that people don't feel alone, because, again, we are in such an isolated business and you're an entrepreneur, and so, therefore, there are many things that are scary being an entrepreneur because it's so funny because, having come from corporate right where I was told what to do here, here's your job, this is what you do, and if you want to advance, this is what you do. And that was it. It was easy. I could take instruction. It's kind of like taking direction right. 

18:35 But, as entrepreneurs, when we're trying to move forward and transform and evolve, where are we evolving to? What are we transforming to? Well, I know that. Let's just say I've had a lot of frustrated students who will say to me I've not been able to book work right, and so I've been here for a year and I've not been successful, and my loved ones are asking me what's going on and I feel like a failure, I feel like I'm not successful, I need to do something, and so I think that really, it could be a why right All of a sudden, if something's not working for you, right, that could be a good why to propel yourself to make a transformation. 

19:14 Now, again, as I would always say, as being the teacher, right, educate, educate yourself. If you don't know where to go, you can ask a trusted colleague, ask a trusted coach. What do you think I should do? Where should I go? What do you think is next? Read up on the industry. I think that's another really helpful tip is read up on the industry and understand what the trends are, understand what's happening culturally in the world and in the market. Right, in the global market, because and I think we talked about this in one of our previous episodes right, that will dictate what are your buyers looking for? Right, how are you going to transform your business so that it can be something that will serve, right, the market and serve the buyers? 

19:56 - Lau (Guest) Absolutely, absolutely. Do your homework, because it's not easy to transform. It takes a lot of work, a lot of research, a lot of homework, a lot of practice and then, all of a sudden, before you know it, you've turned into something else and hopefully it's in the direction of where you want to be. On behalf of your whole audience, you know, I thank you for being an amazing, transformational, super beautiful frog. Thank you, I appreciate that, and you as well we are all frogs. 

20:25 - Anne (Host) Right, we are all frogs, we are, we are all frogs, and so I think that it's inspiring and it's motivational and it's exciting. I like to always embrace challenges and I try to embrace fear. It doesn't make me feel any more confident I have. So many people are like you're so confident. I'm like, well, okay, I put it on a good show, don't I? But I always like to look at things with positivity and I realize that if it doesn't work out the way that I think right and maybe it didn't work out I always say, well, look look at what I learned. Like, how cool is that? Absolutely Turn that into something good. You have to love the leap, yeah yeah, love the leap, love the leap. 

21:04 And it's funny because when you first started talking about the frog, I was thinking, oh yeah, because frogs. Well, tadpoles, right, I mean gosh. When I was young I used to like I love little polywogs, polywogs that turned into tadpoles, that turned into frogs, and literally I mean look at them, look at how they grew. Look at how they grew. Yeah, they're incredible Caterpillars that blossom into butterflies. That transformation. So, bosses, we have complete faith, complete faith in your ability to transform yourselves, transform your business. And transformation doesn't just have to be business For my health, that's affected. My business, right, everything personally. We talk about how personal this business is. Everything that affects me personally affects my business too, Absolutely. 

21:47 - Lau (Guest) You can't separate the two, because you need your energy, your focus, your mindset, your health. You need everything working in tandem to make that transformation happen. So take care of your inners before you take care of your outers. There you go. 

22:00 - Anne (Host) I love it, guys, and we have all the faith in the world that you can transform Great conversation, laugh. Thank you so much, my pleasure. 

22:08 Bosses, here's your chance to use your voice to not only transform, but to make an immediate difference in our world and give back to the communities that give to you. Visit 100voiceswhocareorg to commit and big shout out to IPDTL, our sponsor. We love IPDTL. It allows me to connect with law and my clients every single day and I love that relationship. I love the building of the relationships with my clients and with law. So you guys, visit IPDTLcom to find out more. Have an amazing week and we'll see you next week. Bye. 

22:46 - Intro (Announcement) Join us next week for another edition of VO Boss with your host and Gangusa, and take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at vobosscom and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies and new ways to rock your business like a boss. Redistribution with permission. Coast to coast connectivity via IPDTL.